The Play Bureau Newsletter

OOccttoobbeerr 22001177 PO Box 9013, St Clair Dunedin 9047

Tel: +64 3 4559959 info@playbureau.com | www.playbureau.com

What’s New? HOT OFF THE PRESS!! Confessions of a Dirty Blonde

by Billy Van Zandt Comedy 6 M 2 F The year is 1962. Living legend Lillian Lamour, a Mae West like sex siren, comes out of seclusion for a one night tribute at Carnegie Hall. While recreating her famous 1933 Time Magazine cover, a lion bites her world famous derriere exposing, among other things, that she is a he. Get out the boxer shorts, wigs and size ten pumps! The masters of modern farce are back with an outrageously zany comedy. Now Hollywood's best kept secret will be revealed unless Lillian's press agent can put a lid on things. Neither the gangster crooner ex boyfriend nor Lillian's wallflower daughter is aware of the truth, but the hotel doctor knows and can't convince anyone else. This screwball comedy in the tradition of the Marx Brothers is a scream.

Dracula: The Bloody Truth by John Nicholson & Le Navet Bete Comedy 4 M Travelling across Europe, from the dark and sinister Transylvanian mountains to the charming seaside town of Whitby, Professor Van Helsing and his three amateur actors stage a life-changing, theatrical production of Dracula hoping to establish, once and for all, the bloody truth. The result is a delightfully silly, fast-paced and faithful (-ish) adaptation by John Nicholson (Hound of the Baskervilles, Peepolykus) of Bram Stoker s novel, originally performed by physical-comedy theatre company Le Navet Bete on a UK tour in 2017. Performed by four actors playing forty characters. Dracula: The Bloody Truth is a full-blooded adaptation offering abundant opportunities for any theatre company or drama group to sink their teeth into.

Ben Hur Comedy

by Patrick Barlow 3 M 1 F Based on one of the best-selling books of the 19th century and the Academy Award-winning film of grand proportion, comes the stage adaptation with four actors. The story follows an amateur theatre troupe as they produce the massive tale of the fictional Jewish prince and merchant Judah Ben-Hur. He falls to galley slave and rises to champion charioteer within Jerusalem during the life of Jesus Christ, while the actors struggle along through the piece as rivalries form and offstage romances interfere. Complete with chariot race, sea battle, and stage combat, Patrick Barlow weaves his compressed style popularized by The 39 Steps into one of the largest stories ever told.

NZ Play Bureau will be closing for

Christmas on December 15th and re

opening on January the 15th.

Letting you know early so you can

be organised! Emails will be

checked and mail collected

sporadically.

In this issue:

What’s New

Recommended play that

pulled the crowds

Costumes and part set

available

Popular Comedy

Playwrights

Male Two Handers

What’s on around the

country

Kind Regards

Helen

Stop The Play Comedy by David Spicer 4 M 3 F I have read the play, Evelyn! I keep reading the play but the play keeps on changing! Five neurotic actors, one stressed Stage Manager, a crazed director, an invisible playwright and an escaped monkey are desperately rehearsing the world s worst play, which keeps being rewritten. And every rewrite is more hilariously terrible than the one before. And although it really shouldn’t, somehow, the show manages to go on.

The Return of Edwin Drood Drama by Michael Druce 9 M 7 F When Charles Dickens died having completed only half of his final novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, readers worldwide were left with one of the greatest literary mysteries of all time. What happened to Edwin Drood? Did he simply disappear, or was he murdered? Clues abound and evidence points to a vicious attack, but the truth is elusive. The Return of Edwin Drood offers a tantalizing theory. A decade has passed since Drood's disappearance and presumed death. Now he suddenly reappears. He has been living in America where he has gradually overcome amnesia brought on by a savage attack 10 years earlier. His memory now fully restored, Drood returns to his home in England to reclaim his life and property, to rekindle his relationship with Rosa, the woman with whom he was once in love, and to discover the identity of the assailant who stole 10 years of his life. With the help of world-renowned illusionist Madame Robert, Drood sets into motion an elaborate plan to discover the assailant's identity and to force a confession. As Drood closes in on his target, questions arise about the nature of forgiveness and redemption and the relationship between justice and revenge.

Four Weddings and an Elvis Comedy by Nancy Frick 7 M 4 F Sandy, the four-times-married-three-times-divorced owner of a wedding chapel in Las Vegas, has certainly seen her fair share of matrimonies! In the hilarious Four Weddings and an Elvis, we witness four of her funniest: Bev and Stan, who are getting married--by the King himself--as revenge on their exes; Vanessa and Bryce, two arrogant aging stars who are tying the knot as a publicity ploy, and are vexed by an aging Elvis who doesn't know who they are; and Martin and Fiona, a gentle postal-worker and a tough ex-con trying to get married before the police arrive! However, the final wedding is the funniest all: Sandy’s fifth and final wedding which reveals a hilarious twist! With simple scenic requirements and memorable characters, Four Weddings and an Elvis is a comedic treat certain to please audiences!

The Nether Drama by Jennifer Haley 3 M 1 F 1 Girl The Nether is a virtual wonderland that provides total sensory immersion. Just log in, choose an identity and indulge your every desire. But when a young detective uncovers a disturbing brand of entertainment, she triggers an interrogation into the darkest corners of the imagination. Winner of the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, The Nether is both a serpentine crime drama and haunting sci-fi thriller that explores the consequences of living out our private dreams.

Angry Young Women in Low Rise Jeans with High Class Issues

Comedy by Mat Morillo 6 m 7 F This outrageous new comedy is told in five outrageously funny parts all dealing with young women and the various issues they confront today. It's part sit-com, part stand-up, and part sketch-comedy. This collection of vignettes parades a series of foxy, witty, and anxious women who bear the expectations of the world like an itchy muffler. Coffee-driven, sensitive, wired, misunderstood, and fuming with awkward issues, these girls are frustrated with the ways of the world, the perceptions men have of them and their own complex reactions to it. How, for example, do you resolve societal contradictions like dressing sexy and still considering yourself a feminist? These women go head to head with such

issues as Electra complexes, bikini waxes, low rider jeans, their oversexed mothers, thongs, brazen teenagers, men's sexual fantasies, side effects of birth control drugs, mean teenagers on the subway, sympathy sex, and the artistic integrity of penises and vaginas in independent films. This play has great material for scene and monologue work as well as for performance

You Drama by Mark Wilson Now in her mid-forties, Kathleen sits anxiously waiting for the arrival of the man whom she gave up for adoption thirty years before. Years spent insulating herself against the pain of separation and loss fall away ‘like bricks in a flood wall’ as she allows herself to recall the events of that time with a clarity that brings each of her story’s characters to life. Central to the play is Kathleen’s relationship with her son – the baby whom she only knew “…for six short weeks” and the grown man, “…parking somewhere now, I expect. Getting out of his car, looking at the houses. Looking at this house”. ‘You’ is about loss and the way it has shaped Kathleen’s life. It is also about its impact upon her family and everyone else who found themselves a part of her story.

One Act Plays: Call Me Anna Drama by Shona M Wilson 5 M 3 F The premise of Call Me Anna is simple. A fourteen-year old girl called Destinee is teased about her name and so she wants to change it. Destinee imagines being Anna, convinced that Anna s life is much easier than her own. Call Me Anna is a one-act play about current social issues for teenagers and peer pressure. It touches on bullying, self-harming, drug use and family dysfunction. It has more cast members than a standard play, to appeal to the drama unit of a high school. This play is designed for a whole class to participate in all aspects of theatre production.

Final Dress Rehearsal by Jack Frakes Comedy 13 F An amateur theatrical group's final dress rehearsal of Cinderella is a disaster: Cinderella is late, the prompter wants to play all the parts, the sassy stage crew is noisy, the author feels her brainchild is being ruined and the director is distraught. The stepsisters miss cues, sound effects are played at the wrong speed, the messenger crashes her bicycle and the fairy godmother can't find her wand. Final Dress Rehearsal is among the most popular plays for high school production according to the International Thespian Society.

Eating Rhode Island by Lawrence Thelen Comedy Satire 3 M 2 F Eating Rhode Island examines the political insanity of 21st-century America and the small state of Rhode Island that dares to be different. Rhode Island's Governor McGruder attempts to create a moral utopia out of the tiny state and finds support from his eccentric constituents. Soon people across the country are heading to Rhode Island in search of a better life. Among them are Danny and his wife, Sarah. Once in Rhode Island, Danny and Sarah take to their new lives with enthusiasm, until one day when a technicality dictates Sarah's exile to Massachusetts. Danny is left to choose between his wife and his newfound happiness in Rhode Island. Eating Rhode Island asks these questions: 1) how much government intervention in our everyday lives is necessary, and 2) can too much morality be bad, and when does too much morality cross the line into insanity? At the outset, Danny and Sarah's move from Texas to Rhode Island seems to be a great thing. But as the truths about this "moral utopia" are revealed, you must decide whether Rhode Island is an enlightened and progressive state or one that is secretly oppressive and cult-like.

Looking for a crowd Puller? Here is a report from a recent production by Howick that did really well for them. It is an oldie but a goodie ‘Dial M for Murder’ by Frederick Knott "A masterpiece" was how the newspaper reviewer described Howick Little Theatre's revival of

the thriller Dial M for Murder. "The set, the acting, the storyline – it all worked together to

create a masterpiece and I loved every moment of it," said Kelly Teed of the Howick and

Pakuranga Times. And she wasn't the only one. Audiences flocked along to this 1952 classic

crime mystery by Frederick Knott and they were on the edge of their seats, waiting to see

what would happen following the dramatic scissors stabbing of the would-be murderer.

Despite a longer than normal first half, which had two of the three acts, you could have heard

a pin drop each night during the season. This is an easy thriller for community groups to stage,

as it has a small cast, single set and no bloody mess to clean up in the interval. It will also

captivate audiences, who recognise the title, thanks to the Alfred Hitchcock film of the same

name, which starred Grace Kelly as the put-upon wife of former tennis pro Tony Wendice.

Male Two Hander’s - Check out on our website

The Zoo Story by Edward Albee

The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter

A Man of Letters by Tim Firth

Bookends by Scott Perry

The Bespoke Overcoat by Wolf Mankowitz

A Couple of Blaguards by Frank and Malachy McCourt

A Life in the Theatre by David Mamet

A Number by Caryl Churchill

Love Upon the Throne by Patrick Barlow

Not About Heroes by Stephen Macdonald

Samuel J. & K. by Mat Smart

Stones in His Pocket by Marie jones

The Mystery of Irma Vep by Charles Ludlam

Popular Comedy Playwrights: Ray Cooney Peter Gordon Ken Ludwig Devon Williamson Alan Ayckbourn David Tristram Derek Benfield Michael Cooney Michael Frayn Rick Abbot Michael Parker Mike Harding Patrick Barlow Supermarket Sisterhood by Devon Williamson

New Players Theatre have the staff uniforms and Signage available for “Supermarket Sisterhood” if you are thinking of performing this play. Let us know and we can put you in contact with them. Great play for a small town!

What’s on around the Country

Play Author Group Dates

Ernie's Incredible Illucinations Alan Ayckbourn Kerikeri High School Oct 17 - Oct 18

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Dale Wasserman Burnside High School Oct 17 - Oct 18

My Mother Said I Never Should Charlotte Keatley Marlborough Girls College Oct 17 - Oct 18

Girls Like That Evan Placey Rangi Ruru Girls School Oct 17 - Oct 18

Chatroom Enda Walsh Jenna Marie Productions Oct 18 - Oct 21

Fear And Misery Of The Third

Reich Bertolt Brecht Green Bay High School Oct 18 - Oct 19

Two Jim Cartwright Tadpole Productions Oct 19 - Oct 29

Extremities William Mastrosimone Poniard Productions Oct 19 - Oct 21

Calendar Girls Tim Firth Invercargill Repertory Oct 24 - Oct 28

Nell Gwynn Jessica Swale Centre Stage ( Taupo) Inc Oct 24 - Nov 04

Top Girls Caryl Churchill Churton Park Young Actors Oct 28 - Oct 29

Grimm Tales Carol Ann Duffy New Plymouth Girls High School Nov 01 - Nov 02

Plaza Suite Neil Simon Inglewood Dramatic Soc Nov 01 - Nov 11

Mr Foote's Other Leg Ian Kelly Stagecraft Theatre Inc Nov 01 - Nov 11

Proof David Auburn Te Pou Theatre Nov 02 - Nov 11

Bette & Joan Anton Burge Harlequin Theatre Inc Nov 07 - Dec 16

Kindly Leave The Stage John Chapman Rotorua Little Theatre Society Inc Nov 08 - Nov 18

Animal Farm Peter Hall Paeroa Little Theatre Nov 08 - Nov 12

Stones In His Pockets Marie Jones Marlborough Repertory Soc Inc Nov 08 - Nov 18

The 39 Steps Patrick Barlow Ellerslie Theatrical Soc Nov 09 - Nov 18

Twas The Fight Before Christmas ! Devon Williamson Dargaville Little Theatre Nov 10 - Nov 25

The Farndale Avenue... Murder

Mystery David Mcgillivray Feilding Little Theatre Players Inc Nov 10 - Nov 25

You've Got Hate Mail Billy Van Zandt Takaka Drama Society Inc Nov 10 - Nov 18

Deathtrap Ira Levin Company Theatre Nov 10 - Nov 24

Earthquakes in London Mike Bartlett The Actors Programme Nov 14 - Nov 25

Exit Laughing Paul Elliott Detour Theatre Company Nov 15 - Dec 02

The Farndale Avenue... Murder

Mystery David Mcgillivray Oamaru Repertory Society Inc Nov 15 - Nov 19

I'Ll Be Back Before Midnight Peter Colley Kapiti Playhouse Inc Nov 15 - Nov 25

Are You Being Served? Jeremy Lloyd Manawatu Theatre Society Nov 17 - Dec 02

Bums On Seats Michael Snelgrove Mana Little Theatre Nov 19 - Nov 25

Daisy Pulls It Off Denise Deegan Waikato Diocesan School For Girls Nov 20 - Nov 22

Seasons Greetings Alan Ayckbourn Tauranga Repertory Society Nov 22 - Dec 09

Calendar Girls Tim Firth Whangarei Repertory Society Nov 23 - Dec 09

A Christmas Carol John Jakes Waiheke Theatre Company Nov 23 - Dec 09

Ghost Writer David Tristram Foxton Little Theatre Soc Inc Nov 23 - Dec 02

Jack And The Giant Vera Morris

Onewhero Society of Performing

Arts Nov 23 - Nov 25

Peter Panto Peter Webster Waipawa Musical Society Nov 24 - Dec 02

A Kick In The Baubles Gordon Steel Hutt Repertory Theatre Nov 29 - Dec 16

James And The Giant Peach Roald Dahl Mairangi Players Inc Dec 01 - Dec 09

The Plotters Of Cabbage Patch

Corner David Wood Marian School Dec 05 - Dec 06

The Ladykillers Graham Lineham Friends of the Globe Theatre Dec 07 - Dec 16

The Caucasian Chalk Circle Tom Kuhn Churton Park Young Actors Dec 12 - Dec 15